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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment report this month. The EEOC chose a Select Task Force on the Study of Harassment in the Workplace to create a report for employers with proactive measures to address and prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The task force developed five core principles believed to have “generally proven effective in preventing and addressing harassment.” The EEOC intends for these promising practices to be best practices or guiding principles rather than official legal requirements, though all employers are strongly encouraged to put these principles into practice in their workplaces to help them in compliance efforts.
The five core principles in the report include:
- Committed and engaged leadership
- Consistent and demonstrated accountability
- Strong and comprehensive harassment policies
- Trusted and accessible complaint procedures
- Regular, interactive training tailored to the audience and the organization
Based on these principles, the EEOC report includes further insight and checklists to help combat workplace harassment. Employers and HR professionals should be sure to set and enforce policies around office misconduct, especially sexual harassment, and remind employees often about these policies and practices.
